United Nations Operation in the Congo

United Nations
Operation in the Congo (ONUC) was a peacekeeping mission
involving Canadians between 1960 and 1964. ONUC comes from the
French translation of the name, Opération des Nations Unies au
Congo. Thirty-four countries participated in the mission, with
a peak strength of over 20,000 personnel, and the four-year
mission had cost $ 400,000,000.1

UN Mandate

After gaining
independence from Belgium, the native army and police in the
Congo mutinied against its white officers resulting in the
breakdown of law and order. Belgium moved in 10,000 troops to
restore order, and the United Nations was asked to provide a
force to help the Congolese authorities restore order and deal
with the separatist threat of the Province of Katanga. The
operation saw several bloody battles, as well as rescue
operations, take place and 126 UN soldiers were killed with
109 other soldiers (including 2 Canadians) dying accidentally
or from natural causes.

Force Commanders

General von
Horn, Sweden, Jul 1960 – Dec 1960

General MacEoin,
Ireland, Janu 1961 – Mar 1962

General Guebre,
Ethiopia, Apr 1962 – Jul 1963

General
Christian Kaldager, Norway, Aug 1963 – Dec 1963

General Ironsi,
Nigeria, Jan 1964 – Jun 1964

Canadian Military
Involvement

57 Signal
Squadron (later redesignated 57 Signal Unit, and assembled
at Kingston from members of various Royal Canadian Corps of
Signals units)

436 (RCAF)
Squadron (two C-119 Flying Boxcars)

Royal 22e
Regiment (officers and men)

Canadian Provost
Corps

History

After Canada
"invented" the concept of peacekeeping, the Government
found their hands tied by public opinion when UN
headquarters requested Canadian forces to intervene in
the Congo. The request asked specifically for 280
French-speaking and bilingual signallers, not a common
commodity in the Canadian Army who in 1960 felt its true
purpose was training to fight the Red Army in central
Europe. According to Dr. Jack Granatstein, the Prime
Minister felt that public perception would be "How could
Canada, the creator of peacekeeping, decline a UN
request?"

The duty
turned out to be hazardous. Unruly Congolese soldiers
roughed up Canadian soldiers, scattered in penny
packets across the vast Congo, because they
automatically assumed that any French-speaking white
was a Belgian. At Stanleyville, Congolese troops beat
and jailed the signals detachment. Released, Captain
J.B. Pariseau, the detachment commander, invited the
local Congolese commander to dinner, told him that
bygones would be bygones, and agreed that it was all a
mistake. If there was a repetition, he added, then his
men would fight, and the Congolese would be answerable
to the Canadian Army.

The Congo
crisis gradually turned into an area of Cold War
confrontation and developed into a war over the
resources in Katanga province. It was the first
peacekeeping war, and the Pearson government eagerly
pulled its last fifty-six servicemen from this
commitment in June 1964.2

The total force
amounted to about 500 soldiers, including 200 signallers.

They...served in
Leopoldville and in many small detachments spread over the
length and breadth of the Congo in support of UN forces
attempting to reestablish order. Some of the Canadian
officers also filled key positions (Chief Signals Officer
and Chief Operations Officer, to give two examples) at ONUC
headquarters, and one of these, Lieutenant Colonel J.A.
Berthiaume, became the first Canadian since the Korean War
to become an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He
was congratulated for his impressive organizational skills,
but also for his bravery and for his "initiative, linguistic
ability, and special aptitude for negotiating.3

Insignia

Ninety days service with ONUC entitled a Canadian soldier
to the ONUC Medal, between 14 Jul 1960 and 30 Jun 1964.
The ribbon had dark blue edge stripes 5 mm wide separated
from a dark green centre by white 2mm stripes.

Approximately 1,900
ONUC medals were issued to Canadians of 93,000 total. The
force had a peak strength of 20,000 members, including more
than 300 Canadians.

Fatalities

Two Canadians died
while serving on this mission, both from disease.

Staff Sergeant
J.P.C. Marquis (Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps)

Sergeant R.H.
Moore (Royal Canadian Corps of Signals)

Awards

Several soldiers
received decorations for their part in this mission.

Brigadier J.A.
Dextraze, the UN Chief of Staff in the Congo, was made a
Commander in the Order of the British Empire for leading a
rescue operation in Jan 1964.

Lieutenant
Colonel J.A. Berthiaume, as mentioned above, received an OBE.

Lieutenant
J.F.T.A. Liston of the Royal 22e Régiment was made a Member
of the Order of the British Empire for rescuing a wounded
Congolese from a minefield

Lieutenant
Colonel Paul Mayer and Sergeant J.A. Léonce received the
George Medal for rescuing priests and nuns from a hazardous
situation, the latter holding off 15 armed enemy soldiers
single-handedly while doing so.

Notes

Marteinson,
John. We Stand on Guard: An Illustrated History of the
Canadian Army (Ovale Publications, Montreal, PQ,
1992) ISBN 2894290438 p.466